


Sideshows

by subcircus



Series: The Immortal Ianto Jones [6]
Category: Highlander: The Raven, Highlander: The Series, Torchwood
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-01-16
Updated: 2010-01-16
Packaged: 2017-10-06 08:27:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/51668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/subcircus/pseuds/subcircus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>How Jack and Amanda met.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sideshows

_Tiverton, Devon, 1925_

"Come one, come all! See the wonders of the world laid before you!"

Amanda smiled as she approached the travelling show and heard the caller's spiel. She'd heard them all in her years with the circus but she always loved to hear that peculiar cadence and rhythm that belonged to them and them alone. It was though there were some Spirit of the Caller that possessed each and every one of them come showtime. Sure, the words might change, but the music, the magic; those remained the same throughout history and all over the world.

She paid her tuppence and took her ticket before stepping into the small field where the show had set up for the week. She wandered around between the stages like the rest of the audience, but she was looking for one particular act.

She had been travelling with a circus in France when rumours began to appear. They would pass through towns where another, smaller troupe were just closing up and they'd socialise, passing on news to each other. Some of these carnies had heard of an amazing new act.

There was a man calling himself the Undying Man, who apparently shot himself on stage. Nobody could tell how he did it, and everyone who'd seen it agreed it was a hell of an act. It was only a matter of time before one of the major circuses heard about it and tried to get him for their show, so Amanda decided to get on the next boat to England.

And now she was walking around a field in Devon, looking for the Undying Man, all the time anticipating the Buzz of another Immortal. She was so busy trying to sense an Immortal that she walked past the Undying Man's stage without even pausing. It was only when she realised she'd completed the circuit that she turned round to try and locate the stage.

Curious, she walked back and watched the Undying Man. He seemed to pull a revolver, load it with bullets that were checked by a member of the audience and then fire it into various parts of his body.

_It's a trick_, Amanda thought. _The audience member must be a plant, and the bullets are fake. He's definitely not Immortal._

Still, he was attractive, and it was a fantastic act. Even she had believed it for a moment. Amanda decided that she would wait and approach the man on the circus' behalf. Perhaps if she secured the Undying Man, her boss wouldn't be cross with her for disappearing without a word.

As the show was closing, Amanda saw the man slip offstage and she followed him. He was cleaning his gun when she approached.

"Show's over, sweetheart. If you want to see me again, you'll have to come back tomorrow," he said. His accent was American, and Amanda shelved that information away for later. He turned around and looked at her and Amanda suddenly felt like she was naked. He flashed her a wide grin, all teeth that were too perfect. "Then again, I could always make time for a private performance."

Amanda smiled back; flirtatious she knew.

"Your act is really good. What's the trick? Go on, you can tell me," Amanda said in a voice that was almost a purr. She approached him and laid one hand against his chest and then looked up into his eyes.

"No trick. I can't die," he said and his voice was so serious, so earnest that Amanda almost believed him. Almost, but he definitely wasn't Immortal. Suddenly he was all smiles again and he held out a hand to her. "Captain Jack Harkness, at your service."

Amused, Amanda took the offered hand and the Captain kissed her demurely on the hand.

"Amanda Duprés," she replied. The Captain's eyes widened in recognition.

"The Amazing Amanda! I saw you perform in Munich," Captain Harkness said. Amanda beamed, flattered to be recognised. But something nagged her at the back of her brain, something not quite right. "But…" Jack added, growing serious again and letting go of Amanda's hand. "That must have been your mother, right?"

And there it was. Amanda hadn't performed in Munich for twenty five years. But this man was surely only in his thirties.

"You would only have been a child, yet you remember her?" Amanda asked, taking a step back. She was suddenly very scared of what she may have stumbled into.

"I'm older than I look," Jack replied. Amanda looked into his eyes and she could recognise there the spirit of someone much older than his body. She nodded.

"I came here because I thought you were someone else. Now I see I was wrong, I'll leave. It was a pleasure to meet you, Captain Harkness."

With that, she turned and began to walk away, but his voice stopped her.

"Call me Jack, please. And don't go, not yet," Jack said and grabbed her gently by the wrist. Amanda didn't resist; instead she turned back to him. "I really can't die. I've been this way for fifty years now and I'm just so…."

"Ssh, dear boy," Amanda whispered and stepped closer to him. She wrapped one arm around his waist and freed the other from his grasp to trace the lines of his face with her hand. "I'm here now."

*-*

_The Hub, 2009_

"What made you confide in her, sir?" Ianto asked.

"Not sure, really. Maybe I recognised a kindred spirit?" Jack replied. "I'm certainly glad that I did."

"So am I," Ianto added with a chuckle. "So am I."


End file.
